U.S. bishops back bipartisan effort to keep foreign religious workers in United States

Multiple U.S. bishops are hailing a proposed bipartisan effort to keep religious workers — including Catholic priests — in the United States by extending their special visas instead of sending them to their home countries for extended lengths of time.

Catholic advocates have been warning for months of a looming crisis in which many U.S.-based priests will be forced to leave their ministries and return to their home countries, after which they would be subject to lengthy wait times before coming back.

A 2023 change to U.S. visa rules created a backlog of visa applicants that has threatened to prevent priests from obtaining a green card before their initial religious worker visa expires.

The backlog was created when the State Department and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) increased the number of immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who are applying for EB-4 visas, the special visa category used by religious workers.

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